About

In 1987, the 69th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2 which required the state water agencies to identify areas having or expecting to have critical groundwater problems within the next 20 years. Dawson County was one of the counties referred to in the “Critical Area Process.”

The Texas Water Commission (TWC) (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) called for these areas to be studied resulting in the creation of water districts to help solve and/or manage the problem(s) as recommended.

It was noted that most districts were being created for the general purpose of protecting respective areas’ freshwater resources from non-beneficial use or contamination. To date, these activities include water assessment studies (yearly water levels, rainfall received and crop usage), groundwater quality and quantity monitoring, wellhead protection programs, plugging abandoned wells and public education programs.

In 1989, Senate Bill 1727 called for the creation of Mesa Underground Conservation District. On January 20, 1990, the district was created by the voters of Dawson County.

So far, there are 100 Groundwater Conservation Districts. Take a look at them all here.